Cardboard Recycling
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Three to four tons per month of cardboard were being tossed with the regular trash at FAA Headquarters, a GSA owned and managed building. Many constraints and misconceptions were offered for not recycling the cardboard in the building, these included: the building had limited vertical space nor a cardboard baler, funding was not available to purchase a baler, and there was limited storage space to hold the cardboard.
Identifying the problems, Mr. Lanzetta of the FAA worked with GSA and FAA building management, DOT, and GSA’s recycling coordinators to purchase and install a compact cardboard baler at FAA Headquarters.
Solid waste volume from the building was significantly reduced. GSA is now saving about $20,000 per year in solid waste disposal costs and FAA is collecting approximately $3,600 per year in recycling revenue for a total governmental savings of about $23,600 per year.
Once the cardboard baler was up and running, Mr. Lanzetta negotiated with the FAA cafeteria to recycle their cardboard also.
Since being implemented, the cafeteria is now reducing its solid waste stream and saving about $800 per month in disposal costs.
Contact:
Frank Lanzetta Jr.
Environmental Specialist
Environment, Energy and Employee Safety Division
DOT/FAA
frank.lanzetta@faa.gov
